Latitude 38 March 2011
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Latitude 38 VOLUME 405 March 2011 WE GO WHERE THE WIND BLOWS MARCH 2011 VOLUME 405 AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AMERICA'S CUP 34 Perhaps the most attention-grabbing news from last month was that Team Artemis became the fi rst America's Cup news video of the af- team to fl ip an AC 45 on February 20. termath of the capsize While it may have appeared embarrass- that an anchorwoman ing, this actually wasn't as bad as it on a New Zealand TV seemed on the surface. station says that "the Have you ever heard the maxim that, boat should be ready for "There are two types of boaters: those Team New Zealand to who've wrapped their prop and those sail the following week" who will?" Well that applies to multihull . hmmm — they still sailing as well . "There are two types haven't publicly chal- of multihull sailors: those who've fl ipped lenged. Which brings us and those who will." It was bound to to our next topic: happen at some point, and Artemis not only got it out of the way early, they did Challengers it on someone else's boat! The Yacht Club de Apparently, the team was fi ddling with France formally an- the furling gear on one of the headsails, nounced its challenge got into irons and while they were drifting for America's Cup 34 on backwards, the airfl ow re-attached to the February 9. The team wing, fl ipping the boat with haste. will be lead by one of All the other teams surely made note that country's most fa- of this scenario. The wing was damaged, mous dynamic sibling and although ACRM director Iain Murray duos, Bruno and Loïck said that the boat would be back sailing Peyron. in a couple days, as of this writing, that The former was a had yet to happen. The Christchurch three-time winner of earthquake could well have played a role the Jules Verne Tro- in delaying the relaunch, but the dam- phy — he was the fi rst age looked pretty extensive, and Oracle's to break the formerly CORE Builders are still trying to churn mythical 80-day 'round these boats out so that everyone who the world mark with signs up can have on for the America's Commodore Explorer in Cup World Series Events in the AC 45. '93. His second win came We couldn't help but notice in a TV with Orange in '02, and TEAM Australia got a chance to sail the AC 45 his third with Orange II in '05. Younger The America's Cup 34 racing area has been before Artemis took the opportunity to fl ip it. unveiled, and while you may notice that the brother Loïck is tabbed as the skipper for areas encircled by pink dots are designated for their AC 34 effort, and was an ORMA 60 of Alinghi 5 for America's Cup 33. spectator boats, we have to believe that if your impresario — he won six championships Their offi cial team name will be "En- boat's name can't legitimately be prefaced by in that class — with what are probably ergy Team," and should prove to be a the letters "M/Y", you're going to be S.O.L. All hundreds of thousands of sea miles un- serious contender given the sheer bulk of the more reason to enjoy the action from land! der his boots. He also served as skipper multihull knowledge developed in France over the last four decades, provided they can scratch up some funding. On February 16, an Australian chal- lenger emerged. There still aren't any details on who is driving the challenge, nor which club the team is challenging from. Video of the team sailing the AC 45 in Auckland was followed by Neville Wittey — someone who hasn't been in- volved in the Cup — if memory serves — since '95, giving his thoughts on the new Cup format. When the press release went out to announce the challenge, a URL embedded in the release just led to a domain name placeholder. Later that day, there was at least something other than a placeholder, but there hasn't ACEA been much progress since, and there's not much more we can tell you at this point. A statement attributed to "TEAM AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY Page 86 • Latitude 38 • March, 2011 AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY — SAN FRANCISCO BAY how hard would it have been to at least have their boilerplate website up when the release went out? If it had, in fact, been in the works for a year and TEAM Australia will be a viable challenger, it wasn't walking the walk. It would be great to see Australia back in the Amer- ica's Cup, and an America's Cup World Series event in Fremantle or Sydney Harbor would be pretty dynamite. With a month to go before the close of the entry deadline for the 34th America's Cup, there is still a confi rmed — but un- announced — entry. At this point, there's a relative paucity of challengers for AC 34. The little teaser a few weeks back from ACEA about a potential Chinese entry may have been a solicitation more than anything; Hong Kong sailor Frank Pong, who chaired the China Team in '07, is rumored to have said "no, thanks" already to overtures to enter. The two French challengers both say that the country can't support two efforts, and Team New Zealand is not onboard yet — publicly. In order to have eight to 10 teams — Russell Coutts has sworn up and down that he expects there to be — there would likely have to be 11- 13 teams that at least make it to the AC GILLES MARTIN-RAGET 45 stage to accommodate the inevitable attrition that seems to happen with these efforts. With six weeks left in the entry pe- riod, and Challenger of Record Vincenzo Onorato reporting that his Mascalzone Australia" says that the effort has been campaign, and not exactly noteworthy. Latino team has no sponsors, we're start- underway for a year and that it "com- The manner of the announcement was ing to get a little concerned — hopefully prises a mix of experiences straddling surprising — the team missed a signifi - it proves to be unfounded — that the technical backgrounds, business skills cant branding opportunity, and really, Louis Vuitton Cup could end up being a and passionate sailing enthusiasts." Bruno Peyron, left, says, "we're in!" He and brother Loïck have dubbed themselves 'Energy Team' All of these attributes would seem to and aligned themselves with the Yacht Club de France; right, the look says it all. Paul Cayard and be pretty helpful for an America's Cup Iain Murray debrief after the "christening" of the AC 45 during a practice sail in Auckland. GILLES MARTIN-RAGET ACEA AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY March, 2011 • Latitude 38 • Page 87 AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AMERICA'S CUP 34 two- or three-boat affair. prospective host sites to provide the infrastructure and support needed to World Series Dates Announced stage a superior event on and off the The schedule for the AC 45 segment water. Tens of thousands of fans are of the America's Cup World Series was expected to watch in person at each announced last month, but unfortu- venue." nately, none of the locations came with We hope that turns out to be true, them, which seemed kind of strange. but this sure seems to be an ambitious They are as follows: schedule. Also announced last month Event One: July 16-24 was the Racing Area for America's Cup Event Two: August 13-21 34. It will basically consume the entire Event Three: September 17-25 Central Bay, and although there seems Event Four: October 15-23 to be areas set aside for spectator boats, Event Five: December 10-18 we have to think that unless you're Event Six: February 17-25, '12 rocking a boat that can legitimately Event Seven: April 14-22, '12 preface its name with the letters M/Y, Event Eight: May 19-27, '12 you'll probably have to settle for being "We are incredibly pleased with the beyond the perimeter.